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This School System Is Being Sued By Refugees

Due to the chaos that ensues in other war-torn countries across the world, an annual influx of refugees make their way to the United States every year.

The U.S. gets around 85,000 out of the eight-figure number of refugees, which flee seriously dangerous living environments to seek asylum in safer nations all around the globe. In the U.S., 40% of the refugees that arrive on our nation’s borders are school-aged children.

However, it is very difficult for these children to adjust to the American school system once they arrive in the country. There are cultural barriers, language barriers, and a lack of understanding when it comes to how the U.S. immigration and naturalization process works.

In one U.S. school district, a number of refugees are suing over what they call a “denial of access to free and fair education.” The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, the Education Law Center, and Pepper Hamilton LLP of Philadelphia are representing the families of the refugees who have filed this lawsuit.

The U.S. public school district of the city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania is the defendant listed in this class action lawsuit. LancasterOnline.com, a local news source reported the following regarding the details of this lawsuit:

“Their complaint says that the school district regularly refuses to admit older immigrant and refugee students, or assigns them to an “inferior” alternative school with insufficient support for overcoming language barriers. A school district spokeswoman said that the complaint is ‘without merit.'” (LancasterOnline.com)

This lawsuit is currently ongoing. Immigration has been a hot button issue all throughout the debate over the factors, which will largely affect the administration of the next U.S. president. Immigration and naturalization is a policy is always a concern that seems to get swept under the rug, even by the current presidential administration.